Building plugins

Plugins extend OpenClaw with new capabilities: channels, model providers, speech, realtime transcription, realtime voice, media understanding, image generation, video generation, web fetch, web search, agent tools, or any combination. You do not need to add your plugin to the OpenClaw repository. Publish to ClawHub and users install with openclaw plugins install clawhub:<package-name>. Bare package specs still install from npm during the launch cutover.

Prerequisites

Node >= 22 and a package manager (npm or pnpm)
Familiarity with TypeScript (ESM)
For in-repo plugins: repository cloned and pnpm install done. Source checkout plugin development is pnpm-only because OpenClaw loads bundled plugins from the extensions/* workspace packages.

What kind of plugin?

Channel plugin

Connect OpenClaw to a messaging platform (Discord, IRC, etc.)

Provider plugin

Add a model provider (LLM, proxy, or custom endpoint)

Tool / hook plugin

For a channel plugin that isn’t guaranteed to be installed when onboarding/setup runs, use createOptionalChannelSetupSurface(...) from openclaw/plugin-sdk/channel-setup. It produces a setup adapter + wizard pair that advertises the install requirement and fails closed on real config writes until the plugin is installed.

Quick start: tool plugin

This walkthrough creates a minimal plugin that registers an agent tool. Channel and provider plugins have dedicated guides linked above.

Create the package and manifest

{
  "name": "@myorg/openclaw-my-plugin",
  "version": "1.0.0",
  "type": "module",
  "openclaw": {
    "extensions": ["./index.ts"],
    "compat": {
      "pluginApi": ">=2026.3.24-beta.2",
      "minGatewayVersion": "2026.3.24-beta.2"
    },
    "build": {
      "openclawVersion": "2026.3.24-beta.2",
      "pluginSdkVersion": "2026.3.24-beta.2"
    }
  }
}

Every plugin needs a manifest, even with no config. Runtime-registered tools must be listed in contracts.tools so OpenClaw can discover the owning plugin without loading every plugin runtime. Plugins should also declare activation.onStartup intentionally. This example sets it to true. See Manifest for the full schema. The canonical ClawHub publish snippets live in docs/snippets/plugin-publish/.

Write the entry point

// index.ts
import { definePluginEntry } from "openclaw/plugin-sdk/plugin-entry";
import { Type } from "@sinclair/typebox";

export default definePluginEntry({
  id: "my-plugin",
  name: "My Plugin",
  description: "Adds a custom tool to OpenClaw",
  register(api) {
    api.registerTool({
      name: "my_tool",
      description: "Do a thing",
      parameters: Type.Object({ input: Type.String() }),
      async execute(_id, params) {
        return { content: [{ type: "text", text: `Got: ${params.input}` }] };
      },
    });
  },
});

definePluginEntry is for non-channel plugins. For channels, use defineChannelPluginEntry — see Channel Plugins. For full entry point options, see Entry Points.

Test and publish

External plugins: validate and publish with ClawHub, then install:

clawhub package publish your-org/your-plugin --dry-run
clawhub package publish your-org/your-plugin
openclaw plugins install clawhub:@myorg/openclaw-my-plugin

Bare package specs like @myorg/openclaw-my-plugin install from npm during the launch cutover. Use clawhub: when you want ClawHub resolution.In-repo plugins: place under the bundled plugin workspace tree — automatically discovered.

pnpm test -- <bundled-plugin-root>/my-plugin/

Plugin capabilities

A single plugin can register any number of capabilities via the api object:

Capability	Registration method	Detailed guide
Text inference (LLM)	`api.registerProvider(...)`	Provider Plugins
CLI inference backend	`api.registerCliBackend(...)`	CLI Backends
Channel / messaging	`api.registerChannel(...)`	Channel Plugins
Speech (TTS/STT)	`api.registerSpeechProvider(...)`	Provider Plugins
Realtime transcription	`api.registerRealtimeTranscriptionProvider(...)`	Provider Plugins
Realtime voice	`api.registerRealtimeVoiceProvider(...)`	Provider Plugins
Media understanding	`api.registerMediaUnderstandingProvider(...)`	Provider Plugins
Image generation	`api.registerImageGenerationProvider(...)`	Provider Plugins
Music generation	`api.registerMusicGenerationProvider(...)`	Provider Plugins
Video generation	`api.registerVideoGenerationProvider(...)`	Provider Plugins
Web fetch	`api.registerWebFetchProvider(...)`	Provider Plugins
Web search	`api.registerWebSearchProvider(...)`	Provider Plugins
Tool-result middleware	`api.registerAgentToolResultMiddleware(...)`	SDK Overview
Agent tools	`api.registerTool(...)`	Below
Custom commands	`api.registerCommand(...)`	Entry Points
Plugin hooks	`api.on(...)`	Plugin hooks
Internal event hooks	`api.registerHook(...)`	Entry Points
HTTP routes	`api.registerHttpRoute(...)`	Internals
CLI subcommands	`api.registerCli(...)`	Entry Points

For the full registration API, see SDK Overview. Bundled plugins can use api.registerAgentToolResultMiddleware(...) when they need async tool-result rewriting before the model sees the output. Declare the targeted runtimes in contracts.agentToolResultMiddleware, for example ["pi", "codex"]. This is a trusted bundled-plugin seam; external plugins should prefer regular OpenClaw plugin hooks unless OpenClaw grows an explicit trust policy for this capability. If your plugin registers custom gateway RPC methods, keep them on a plugin-specific prefix. Core admin namespaces (config.*, exec.approvals.*, wizard.*, update.*) stay reserved and always resolve to operator.admin, even if a plugin asks for a narrower scope. Hook guard semantics to keep in mind:

before_tool_call: { block: true } is terminal and stops lower-priority handlers.
before_tool_call: { block: false } is treated as no decision.
before_tool_call: { requireApproval: true } pauses agent execution and prompts the user for approval via the exec approval overlay, Telegram buttons, Discord interactions, or the /approve command on any channel.
before_install: { block: true } is terminal and stops lower-priority handlers.
before_install: { block: false } is treated as no decision.
message_sending: { cancel: true } is terminal and stops lower-priority handlers.
message_sending: { cancel: false } is treated as no decision.
message_received: prefer the typed threadId field when you need inbound thread/topic routing. Keep metadata for channel-specific extras.
message_sending: prefer typed replyToId / threadId routing fields over channel-specific metadata keys.

The /approve command handles both exec and plugin approvals with bounded fallback: when an exec approval id is not found, OpenClaw retries the same id through plugin approvals. Plugin approval forwarding can be configured independently via approvals.plugin in config. If custom approval plumbing needs to detect that same bounded fallback case, prefer isApprovalNotFoundError from openclaw/plugin-sdk/error-runtime instead of matching approval-expiry strings manually. See Plugin hooks for examples and the hook reference.

Registering agent tools

Tools are typed functions the LLM can call. They can be required (always available) or optional (user opt-in):

register(api) {
  // Required tool — always available
  api.registerTool({
    name: "my_tool",
    description: "Do a thing",
    parameters: Type.Object({ input: Type.String() }),
    async execute(_id, params) {
      return { content: [{ type: "text", text: params.input }] };
    },
  });

  // Optional tool — user must add to allowlist
  api.registerTool(
    {
      name: "workflow_tool",
      description: "Run a workflow",
      parameters: Type.Object({ pipeline: Type.String() }),
      async execute(_id, params) {
        return { content: [{ type: "text", text: params.pipeline }] };
      },
    },
    { optional: true },
  );
}

Every tool registered with api.registerTool(...) must also be declared in the plugin manifest:

{
  "contracts": {
    "tools": ["my_tool", "workflow_tool"]
  },
  "toolMetadata": {
    "workflow_tool": {
      "optional": true
    }
  }
}

OpenClaw captures and caches the validated descriptor from the registered tool, so plugins do not duplicate description or schema data in the manifest. The manifest contract only declares ownership and discovery; execution still calls the live registered tool implementation. Set toolMetadata.<tool>.optional: true for tools registered with api.registerTool(..., { optional: true }) so OpenClaw can avoid loading that plugin runtime until the tool is explicitly allowlisted. Users enable optional tools in config:

{
  tools: { allow: ["workflow_tool"] },
}

Tool names must not clash with core tools (conflicts are skipped)
Tools with malformed registration objects, including missing parameters, are skipped and reported in plugin diagnostics instead of breaking agent runs
Use optional: true for tools with side effects or extra binary requirements
Users can enable all tools from a plugin by adding the plugin id to tools.allow

Registering CLI commands

Plugins can add root openclaw command groups with api.registerCli. Provide descriptors for every top-level command root so OpenClaw can show and route the command without eagerly loading every plugin runtime.

register(api) {
  api.registerCli(
    ({ program }) => {
      const demo = program
        .command("demo-plugin")
        .description("Run demo plugin commands");

      demo
        .command("ping")
        .description("Check that the plugin CLI is executable")
        .action(() => {
          console.log("demo-plugin:pong");
        });
    },
    {
      descriptors: [
        {
          name: "demo-plugin",
          description: "Run demo plugin commands",
          hasSubcommands: true,
        },
      ],
    },
  );
}

After install, verify the runtime registration and execute the command:

openclaw plugins inspect demo-plugin --runtime --json
openclaw demo-plugin ping

Import conventions

Always import from focused openclaw/plugin-sdk/<subpath> paths:

import { definePluginEntry } from "openclaw/plugin-sdk/plugin-entry";
import { createPluginRuntimeStore } from "openclaw/plugin-sdk/runtime-store";

// Wrong: monolithic root (deprecated, will be removed)
import { ... } from "openclaw/plugin-sdk";

For the full subpath reference, see SDK Overview. Within your plugin, use local barrel files (api.ts, runtime-api.ts) for internal imports — never import your own plugin through its SDK path. For provider plugins, keep provider-specific helpers in those package-root barrels unless the seam is truly generic. Current bundled examples:

Anthropic: Claude stream wrappers and service_tier / beta helpers
OpenAI: provider builders, default-model helpers, realtime providers
OpenRouter: provider builder plus onboarding/config helpers

If a helper is only useful inside one bundled provider package, keep it on that package-root seam instead of promoting it into openclaw/plugin-sdk/*. Some generated openclaw/plugin-sdk/<bundled-id> helper seams still exist for bundled-plugin maintenance when they have tracked owner usage. Treat those as reserved surfaces, not as the default pattern for new third-party plugins.

Pre-submission checklist

package.json has correct openclaw metadata

openclaw.plugin.json manifest is present and valid

Entry point uses defineChannelPluginEntry or definePluginEntry

All imports use focused plugin-sdk/<subpath> paths

Internal imports use local modules, not SDK self-imports

Tests pass (pnpm test -- <bundled-plugin-root>/my-plugin/)

pnpm check passes (in-repo plugins)

Beta release testing

Watch for GitHub release tags on openclaw/openclaw and subscribe via Watch > Releases. Beta tags look like v2026.3.N-beta.1. You can also turn on notifications for the official OpenClaw X account @openclaw for release announcements.
Test your plugin against the beta tag as soon as it appears. The window before stable is typically only a few hours.
Post in your plugin’s thread in the plugin-forum Discord channel after testing with either all good or what broke. If you do not have a thread yet, create one.
If something breaks, open or update an issue titled Beta blocker: <plugin-name> - <summary> and apply the beta-blocker label. Put the issue link in your thread.
Open a PR to main titled fix(<plugin-id>): beta blocker - <summary> and link the issue in both the PR and your Discord thread. Contributors cannot label PRs, so the title is the PR-side signal for maintainers and automation. Blockers with a PR get merged; blockers without one might ship anyway. Maintainers watch these threads during beta testing.
Silence means green. If you miss the window, your fix likely lands in the next cycle.

Next steps

Channel Plugins

Build a messaging channel plugin

Provider Plugins

Build a model provider plugin

SDK Overview

Import map and registration API reference

Runtime Helpers

TTS, search, subagent via api.runtime

Testing

Test utilities and patterns

Plugin Manifest

Full manifest schema reference

Plugin Architecture — internal architecture deep dive
SDK Overview — Plugin SDK reference
Manifest — plugin manifest format
Channel Plugins — building channel plugins
Provider Plugins — building provider plugins

Overview

Plugins

Skills

Automation and tasks

Tools

Agent coordination

Prerequisites

What kind of plugin?

Channel plugin

Provider plugin

Tool / hook plugin

Quick start: tool plugin

Plugin capabilities

Registering agent tools

Registering CLI commands

Import conventions

Pre-submission checklist

Beta release testing

Next steps

Channel Plugins

Provider Plugins

SDK Overview

Runtime Helpers

Testing

Plugin Manifest

Overview

Plugins

Skills

Automation and tasks

Tools

Agent coordination

Documentation Index

​Prerequisites

​What kind of plugin?

Channel plugin

Provider plugin

Tool / hook plugin

​Quick start: tool plugin

​Plugin capabilities

​Registering agent tools

​Registering CLI commands

​Import conventions

​Pre-submission checklist

​Beta release testing

​Next steps

Channel Plugins

Provider Plugins

SDK Overview

Runtime Helpers

Testing

Plugin Manifest

​Related

Prerequisites

What kind of plugin?

Quick start: tool plugin

Plugin capabilities

Registering agent tools

Registering CLI commands

Import conventions

Pre-submission checklist

Beta release testing

Next steps

Related